The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a murder conviction and life sentence for a Jacksonville murder, rejecting the inmate's argument that a statement given to police turned jurors against him even though they weren't told what he said.

In a unanimous decision, justices noted Alonzo Watson was convicted on witness testimony, not interviews he gave to police after Daniel Harris was found dead in a warehouse district Sept. 3, 2010.

An ex-girlfriend testified at Watson's trial that he confessed to her while wearing a blood-spattered shirt about an hour after Harris was last seen alive but that he changed his story after she became upset. A man who gave Watson a ride the night of the killing said he heard him talk about killing someone, and when the two shared a jail cell later Watson said he'd beaten a man with a rock in a drunken rage.

Prosecutors said Harris was struck 26 times with a piece of steel-reinforced concrete.

Watson met with police twice. Prior to the trial, a judge rejected Watson's attempt to suppress his initial statement but prosecutors opted later to not present it to jurors. They agreed before trial not to bring up the second statement in court.

In arguing against Watson's appeal, prosecutors said he had no valid argument because his statement was never introduced as evidence.

"When an appellant's statement was not used at trial, he cannot demonstrate prejudice," Justice Courtney Hudson Goodson wrote for the court.